Personal computers and workstations have become extremely popular and useful devices in the workplace. The acceptance and proliferation of personal computers is to a great extent due to sophisticated software products which make these machines especially useful for specific tasks such as word processing, desktop publishing and graphics applications.
Where a personal computer is used in such fields of activity as desktop publishing, artistic design, newspaper layout design or advertising, it is necessary when working with certain software programs to have a ruler at hand in order to measure artwork, photos, text material and other working documents so that various measurements may be taken from such materials and then entered into the computer by the operator thereof. Typical measurements of working materials that are encountered when using the software programs described above may relate to leading or line spacing, type sizes, newspaper column widths and heights, and the dimensions of photographs or other artwork which are to be incorporated into the main text of a document or layout already entered into the computer.
Although some graphics and desktop publishing software programs provide a ruler or some other measurement scale directly on the computer screen, it is not at all convenient for a person working with such software to bring any working documents up against the computer screen for measurement purposes. Moreover, some computer screens have curved surfaces, such that measurement by way of on-screen rulers may be cumbersome. As well, some computer screens may not be sufficiently large enough to permit convenient on-screen measurements of very long or wide documents and artwork. Finally, in many cases, the on-screen measurement scales generated by a software program may not necessarily be provided to scale. That is, the representation of the measurement scale on the screen may not always correspond identically or on a 1:1 basis with the actual units of measurement in question.
The result of the foregoing difficulties is that many software users and keyboard operators resort to using a conventional ruler for measurement of their working documents. However, such rulers may be easily misplaced or lost, and can be difficult to readily locate, especially in cluttered work environments or where only a limited workspace is available.
It is accordingly an object of the present invention to provide a template for a computer keyboard, which template provides markings constituting a measurement scale. Although the prior art reveals numerous varieties of templates for use with computer keyboards, the prior art templates do not teach or even suggest a template which provides markings constituting a measurement scale. For instance, in U.S. Pat. No. Des. 294,706 issued on Mar. 15, 1988 to one Duffin, II, there is disclosed a personal computer keyboard template for displaying operating instructions for software programs. The template is substantially L-shaped and has an upper portion which extends laterally adjacent the topmost row of keys of the keyboard. The template also has a side portion which extends transversely from the upper portion and provides an aperture therein for allowing keys of the keyboard to pass therethrough. The Duffin patent does not, however, even suggest the provision of a measurement scale on the template.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,163 issued on Nov. 29, 1977 in the name of Willingham, there is taught a keyboard guard for protecting the keys of a keyboard from being inadvertently activated. The guard provides an aperture therein for accommodating keys of the keyboard. Although it is taught that the guard may be provided with indicia on the surface thereof, such markings are disclosed to be for providing informative data respecting the particular keys of the keyboard. There is therefore no teaching or even a remote suggestion by Willingham of a keyboard template which provides markings constituting a measurement scale.
In yet another example of known keyboard templates, namely that of U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,888 issued on Jun. 19, 1990 in the names of Heston et al., there is disclosed a template which employs a tray device capable of being disposed in juxtaposition to the keyboard keys. There is no suggestion whatsoever by Heston et al. of the provision of markings constituting a measurement scale on a computer keyboard template.